This application is based on French Patent Application No. 02 08 545 filed Jul. 8, 2002, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety, and the priority of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electrical connection devices which are used to connect electrically two electrical or electronic devices, for example a mobile telephone and a battery charger or an earpiece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Using for this kind of electrical connection devices known as xe2x80x9cjacksxe2x80x9d which take the form of a socket, generally of circular section, into the opening in which a circular section plug is inserted, is known in the art. The socket is carried by the device and the plug constitutes the end of a multiconductor cable.
Depending on the number of conductors to be connected, the socket and the plug each have the commensurate number of conductive portions in the lengthwise direction separated by insulative portions, the corresponding conductive portions of the socket and the plug cooperating to make the electrical contact between them.
These xe2x80x9cjackxe2x80x9d type electrical connection devices have the following drawbacks:
they are limited in terms of the number of conductors to be interconnected,
they have a large overall length, which increases with the number of conductors to be connected,
they break easily if the plug is pulled out, even if it has a right-angle shape,
the opening of the socket and the socket itself can become soiled, for example by dust and grains of sand, which leads to poor electrical contact, which can lead to a fault because of destruction of the conductive parts,
since a distinction between the various cables to be connected to the device relies on the diameter of the plug and therefore of the socket, it can happen that a plug is forced into a socket of slightly smaller diameter, causing damage leading to a fault.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an electrical connection device between a cable and an electrical/electronic device that does not have the drawbacks of the prior art electrical connection devices, in particular those of the xe2x80x9cjackxe2x80x9d type set out hereinabove.
The above object is achieved by providing an electrical connection device in two parts, of which one part has conductive terminals electrically connected to conductors to be connected while the other part has spring contacts each cooperating with a conductive terminal and electrically connected to conductors to be connected, the two parts of the electrical connection device being assembled by resilient clipping that maintains pressure between each conductive terminal and the corresponding spring contact.
The invention more specifically provides a fixed electrical connection member of an electronic device for connecting one or more electrical conductors of said electronic device to a mobile electrical connection member external to said electronic device, which fixed member includes, on the side external to said electronic device, 2N conductive terminals disposed on a front face and connected, inside said electronic device, to a rear face said electrical conductor of said electronic device, and aligned in pairs, said N pairs being aligned to form two rows of N terminals that are symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal axis, and each terminal of a pair being electrically connected to the terminal of the adjacent pair on the other side of said longitudinal axis.
In a preferred embodiment, said electrical terminals are fixed to a front face of a printed circuit board whose rear face electrically connects them to a spring contact adapted to cooperate with a fixed electrical terminal of said electronic device comprising the electrical conductor of said electronic device.
Advantageously, said spring contact of said fixed member has a first end that is mobile to cooperate with said fixed terminal of said electronic device and a second end that is in elastic contact with one or more conductive tracks on the rear face of said printed circuit board.
Preferably, said front face comprises assembly means adapted to cooperate with said mobile electrical connection member.
In this case, said front face comprises assembly means adapted to cooperate with said mobile electrical connection member.
Advantageously, the fixed electrical connection member has a dimension along said longitudinal axis greater than its dimension perpendicular thereto.
The invention also provides a mobile electrical connection member adapted to cooperate with a fixed electrical connection member as defined hereinabove, which mobile electrical connection member comprises:
N spring contacts adapted to cooperate with N terminals of said fixed member, having a mobile first end adapted to contact said terminals and a fixed second end adapted to be connected to an electrical conductor, and disposed to face a terminal of each of said N pairs of terminals, each contact facing successively a terminal of each row along said longitudinal axis, and
means for mounting said mobile member on a peripheral portion of said front face of said fixed member to connect said spring contacts to said terminals.
In one embodiment, the mounting means comprise an elastic ring adapted to clip to said groove in said front face of said fixed member.
Advantageously, the mobile electrical connection member has a section identical to that of said fixed member.
The invention also provides an electrical connection device comprising a fixed member and a mobile member as defined hereinabove, said mobile member being adapted to fit onto said front face of said fixed member.
The connection device according to the invention provides a stable electrical connection. Thus in an audio application the sound transmitted is not subjected to interference and in a data application there is no degradation of the data.
Thanks to the invention, an excellent compromise is obtained between a good electrical connection and easy assembly, by pressure alone, and in two positions of the mobile member, which is particularly advantageous in automobile type situations.
The invention finally provides an electronic device comprising a fixed member of the above kind.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent on reading the following description of one particular embodiment, which description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings.